


The Prophecy

by Titti



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Challenge Response, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-05-22
Updated: 2004-05-22
Packaged: 2019-01-15 22:26:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12330108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Titti/pseuds/Titti
Summary: What happens when Purebloods lose their powers.





	The Prophecy

**Author's Note:**

> Written for 'The Day After Tomorrow Fic Challenge' found at http://www.livejournal.com/users/anniesj/253657.html

Minister of Magic Arthur Weasley was sitting at his desk, trying to decide what to do. Why couldn't prophecies by clearer? Only two days before, Lavender Brown, Fred's latest girlfriend and Divination professor at Hogwarts had had a 'vision': the sun will burn and the water shall rise, and on that day wizards will become Muggles.

Arthur looked at the words again and sighed. What was he supposed to do with that? He had toyed with the idea of informing the Prime Minister, but what was Blair supposed to do with the alleged prophecy when Arthur couldn't even take it seriously.

He looked at the picture on his desk. His entire family waved at him. He smiled as he touched the frame. Molly and Charlie had died six years ago. He still missed them and always would, but the pain was slowly easing. With each passing day, the grip around his heart weakened until it was a dull, but constant sensation.

His kids had tried to make him date again, but no woman could ever replace his Molly. Bill had joked that he should date a man. Arthur had smiled, but had not told his son about one man, one infuriating, arrogant man who was a thorn on his side and the star of his dreams. Not that there was anything to say since they would never be together.

Arthur's eyes went back to the scroll when someone slammed the door of his office. Only one man could be so rude and arrogant. "Lucius, how are you?" he asked calmly. After years in the ministry, he had finally learnt the art of hypocrisy common to politicians. He kept a polite smile on his face when he wanted nothing better than to slam the blond against a wall. "What can I do for you, today?"

"The same thing that you should have done yesterday, and the day before, and every day since the end of the war." Lucius stopped, right in front of Arthur's desk, his cane hitting the floor louder than it should have. "I want my property returned. My family requires it."

The smile got a little tighter, but it was still there. "Like I've been telling you for years, the Ministry cannot return what you seek. We've returned the estates and the Gringott's accounts. There is no reason why you and Draco would need Dark Art objects."

"They are family heirlooms, not Dark-"

The underground building shook violently. Frames fell from the wall, the shattered glass flying everywhere. Furniture toppled over as the floor quaked. Lucius stood perfectly calm, the very image of aristocratic poise until the trembling stopped.

"Earthquakes are such a nuisance," Lucius said with contempt. "Reparo!" He pointed his wand toward a chair, but nothing happened. The two men looked at each other with similar frowns. "Reparo," he repeated, but again nothing happened.

Lucius began to cast more and more spells, growing more agitated as they all failed. He twisted and turned, pointing his wand toward various objects, but the result was always the same: nothing happened. His voice grew louder, more frantic.

"Calm down, Lucius," Arthur said, putting a hand on Lucius' arm. "Let me try. Reparo." But Arthur failed as well, but confusion led way to suspicion. "Accio prophecy," he said without thinking, but his outstretched hand remained empty.

Lucius' eyes flared. "What prophecy, Arthur?"

There was a gentle knock before a thin looking woman, her hair swept up in a bun, opened the door. She was the model secretary, calm, cool, and very English, but beneath all there was a hint of fear. "Minister, I'm sorry to bother you, no one has any magical powers. The electricity went out in the building. The lifts aren't working and neither is the speaker system, Muggle or magical."

"Thank you, Patricia. What about the fires? Are we still connected to the Floo?"

"Shacklebolt said that he thinks so, Minister. He was sending someone to the Leaky Cauldron and back to make sure."

There was another knock, more powerful this time. Lucius turned to see one of Arthur's children, Lucius could never remember who was who, and Draco.

Ron looked at the people present, and then focused on his father. "Dad, I need to speak to you in private."

Draco took Patricia's arm, with a smile, and Lucius noticed the woman smiling back. Draco had inherited all of the Malfoy charm. "Patricia, please, it will only take a moment."

She looked at Arthur hesitantly, and when she saw her boss nod, she left the room, but not before giving Draco one last smile. The young Slytherin closed the door and looked at his father before looking at Arthur.

Lucius noticed that Draco waited for Arthur's nod before he began to speak. Lucius wonder when Arthur had gotten so much power and respect and why he had missed it. That was something for later, not that in his state he was able to think about anything but that the fact that he was a Squib. However, he forced himself to listen to his son say, "Sir, Ron and I went outside. Things are..."

"Things are a bloody mess out there, Dad. London is in the dark, all electricity is down. The weather is... It's scorching hot out there, 50 degrees in the evening."

"We heard that it's worldwide problems. New York has been inundated, and other cities are witnessing unusual weather as well." Draco looked at his father for a moment, but then addressed the Minister again. "All wizards to whom we spoke have turned into Squibs, Sir, but owls are still sending messages for us, but they are facing difficult weather conditions."

"It's Lavender's prophecy, isn't it, Dad?" Ron asked.

Arthur nodded gravely. "It matters not at the moment. You two, go speak with Shacklebolt. I want Aurors to reach all levels and make sure that the building is evacuated. Warn the people to use the Floo wisely. We aren't sure how long that will last. They are to go find their family. The Ministry will contact people by owl as soon as we have news."

"Any special orders for the Aurors, Sir?" Draco asked.

Arthur shook his head. "As soon as we are certain that all personnel is out, I want the Aurors to go as well. Now, go. I will see you both at the Burrow." He ushered the two to the door, and turned to Lucius. "You should go home."

"I have no way of going," Lucius replied. Calm, stoic, but the tight grip on his cane and the paleness on his face betrayed his inner feelings. "You don't think I would have Malfoy mansion connected to the Floo, do you?"

"Right, you never know what evil men might lurk around?" Arthur said sarcastically. Lucius was able to push every one of his buttons with one sentence, and sometimes it only took his presence. "Fine, you can Floo to the Burrow with me, but for the time being find a seat and don't interfere with the evacuation."

"Fine! Accio chair." There was almost desperation in Lucius' voice as he tried the spell. The Gryffindor could see the fear in Lucius' eyes, those deep grey eyes that focused on the Minister as if he were the only source of salvation. "Arthur, this prophecy...When do we get our powers back?"

"I don't know, Lucius." Arthur found the prophecy on his now broken desk and handed it to the other man. Standing behind Lucius, he put a hand on the blond's shoulder. "We can hope that it's temporary."

"Hope? Hope? We can hope? Are you mad? What are we going to do without out powers? Live like Squibs?" Lucius' voice grew steadily as he spoke. He turned around, his eyes flaming with anger, a sensation he enjoyed much more than fear. "It's all your fault," he accused, pointing the cane at Arthur. "You knew and you did nothing. It's all your bloody fault."

Arthur caught the cane before Lucius could do any damage, and then proceeded to push Lucius against the wall, pinning his hands on each side of his face. Arthur pressed his body against Lucius', trapping the blond, hoping that Lucius would regain control. He should have expected that becoming a Squib would be the one thing to break through the Malfoy cool facade. "Calm down right this moment, Lucius. We don't know anything. The prophecy only says that today we would lose our powers. We don't know if or when they will come back but panicking won't help us."

"You're probably happy. Now we're all going to be Muggles. You can play with those Muggle inventions you like so much. You knew how to stop this, but didn't be-"

Lucius was cut off when strong lips pressed against his, taking his breath away. Dizzy from the lack of air, eyes dazed, breath heavy, it took a moment for Lucius to realize that Arthur had pulled away. He blinked a couple of time, but soon he found his presence of mind. "How dare you!"

Arthur kissed Lucius once more. His tongue swept over Lucius' lips like a teasing promise before delving deep into Lucius' mouth. Arthur took his time as his discovering tongue moved with libidinous care. It would have been so easy to get lost in this, in overpowering Lucius, a man that evoked many and conflicting feelings, from hate to lust, feelings very different among themselves, but the intensity behind them was always strong.

With effort, he pulled back, but when Arthur spoke, his lips brushed against Lucius'. "Now, listen to me, very carefully. You will stay here with me and help in any way you can. You will go home with me, and tomorrow we will work to see what we can do to regain our powers. For tonight, the safety of everyone is tantamount. Now, I'm going to let you go and you'll find some way to be useful. All right?"

Lucius could barely nod. His knees were weak, his head was spinning, and his entire world had spun upside down more times that he could count since he had entered this office, but he still found the strength to ask, "Why?"

"Because we need all the help we can get," Arthur answered stepping away.

"No, I meant why the kiss. You hate me; you despise my family. You find my beliefs revolting, not to mention the fact that we both were married to beautiful women." Lucius took a step forward, fixing his dishevelled clothes as he did so. "What is it? Did you have pity on me, ecause-"

"Don't make me kiss you again," Arthur put in without waiting for Lucius to finish the sentence. With a sigh, he moved to stand in front of Lucius. "This wasn't about pity and it wasn't about love. It's about an arrogant, annoying, opinionated man who makes me feel alive with his daily visits and impossible requests. This is about a man I've wanted to shut up for a long time." Arthur laid his hand on Lucius' cheek. "Is it so unbelievable that someone might be interested in you, instead of your money and name?"

"You might have gained all of this, but you're still a romantic fool," Lucius answered coldly, but didn't avoid the touch.

"Yes, I am, but I'm not telling you to agree with me. In fact, I'd probably be disappointed if you did." Arthur chuckled, when he saw the frown on Lucius' face. "Don't worry so much. You need a real job to keep occupied and I'm sure Shacklebolt can give you  
something to do."

"All right." Lucius almost bit his tongue when he heard the words come out of his mind. He didn't help people, he didn't do favours, and he certainly didn't work with the Aurors.

"You can always claim temporary insanity in the future," Arthur reassured him, almost imagining the thought running through Lucius' head. "Now, let's go outside. I need to do my part as well." With a hand behind Lucius' back, he led the blond outside.

They could deal with this, no matter what 'this' was. Later, when everything would be settled again, Arthur would work on convincing Lucius that relationships weren't always about eternal love or convenience, sometimes they were just about two men discovering that they had more in common than they thought.


End file.
